Right, that's enough colour, back to a bit of mean and moody.... Foinaven is a legendary almost mythical mountain in the far north of Scotland. It is nearly 3000 feet high so almost a Munro, but not quite high enough to attract the 'baggers'. It is however, magnificent. It is a big mountain, complex, with deep valleys on all sides. It is made of high ridges and deep corries, all sculpted and carved by ice. It is covered in shattered quartzite boulders as you see in the foreground. Above all it takes real effort to climb, as the distances are considerable, the lower slopes are rough and boggy, and the upper slopes are steep and rocky. It's also got a great name! For all these reasons, Foinaven has been on my 'to do' list for several years and so it was with real pleasure and a sense of achievement that I finally set foot on it's summit. This shot was taken from near the top of Ceann Garbh, the secondary top, looking across to the true summit Ganu Mor. To the left of the the Ganu Mor is the black and menacing outlying ridge of A Cheir Ghorm. As you can see, the weather was 'interesting', and even though this was taken on the 17th June, the temperature at the summit was around freezing. ... and you know the best thing? I had the mountain all to myself, I didn't see another soul all day long. There is something really special about literally being miles from another human being - if you are going to do 'social distancing' you might as well do it properly.

The view from the summit of Foinaven in the far north west of Scotland. The view is looking across the long south east ridge, with Arkle, Ben Stack and finally Quinaq in the far distance. It is a magnificent, big mountain, complex, with deep valleys on all sides. It is made of high ridges and deep corries, all sculpted and carved by ice. As you can see, the weather was 'interesting', and even though this was taken on the 17th June, the temperature at the summit was around freezing. It was quite special to have this place all to myself.